Goring Gambit Accepted- 4...dxc3 5.Bc4

Although the recapture on c3 is fully playable and most likely provides enough compensation for the pawn, more popular is the daring sacrifice of a second pawn with 5.Bc4, which is essentially a Danish Gambit with the moves Nf3 and ...Nc6 inserted. While this may not necessarily objectively favour White, it is certainly to White's advantage in a practical sense, because the knight on c6 makes it hard for Black to get in ...d7-d5 effectively, since e4xd5 will hit Black's knight on c6 and open the e-file for White's king's rook.

Black has various ways to decline the second pawn, but of these, I think only 5...d6 (or 5...Nf6 followed by 6...d6) is particularly reliable, after which White has nothing better than to play 6.Nxc3, transposing to 5.Nxc3 d6 6.Bc4, since otherwise Black plays ...Be7 and ...0-0 and gets a solid position. 5...g6 and 5...h6, 5...Bd6 can be met by 6.Nxc3, leaving Black in inferior 5.Nxc3 lines, while 5...Be7 is good for White after either 6.Nxc3 or 6.Qd5. If 5...Nf6 6.Nxc3 Bb4, then 7.e5 is quite strong.If Black plays 5...Bb4, then White gets very dangerous compensation with either 6.bxc3 (which leads to positions reminiscent of the Evans Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4, but with improved chances for White) or 6.0-0, offering the b2-pawn again. 5...Bc5 can be met by the tactic 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qd5+ followed by Qxc5, and although Black can try to reduce the pressure by swapping queens and heading for a level ending, White has ways to side-step these and persist in sacrificing a pawn for compensation.

Thus, theoretically critical is to accept the second pawn with 5...cxb2 6.Bxb2, but in practice it is hard to defend against White's accelerated initiative, and hence many players prefer 5...d6 (certainly, my results with Black after 5...d6 have been better than those after 5...cxb2, albeit mainly in casual games).

Black grabs at the bait on b2

After Black takes on b2, Black has two ways to seriously test the soundness of White's double-pawn sacrifice.

The first of these, favoured by Mark Morss (who wrote the "Hard Chess" column back in 1999) is 6...Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nf6, preparing rapid kingside castling and thus rendering attacks against f7 ineffective. Therefore White chooses between Qc2 and 0-0-0, followed by pushing the kingside pawns forward, and a more positional approach with 0-0 followed by Nd5, aiming to cause disruption in the black kingside. The queenside castling approaches are very dangerous for Black in practice, but objectively the kingside castling approaches are more likely to provide full compensation for two pawns.

The second is 6...d6, which leads to solid, albeit passive, positions for Black. White can put pressure on f7 immediately with 7.Qb3, or defer it for a move by castling first, 7.0-0, with Qb3 to follow. The two lines may well transpose to each other with best play after 7...Be6, since I think White gets ample compensation for two pawns after Black's other responses to 7.Qb3, and I think that in general 7.Qb3 gives Black more scope to go wrong early in the game. An alternative approach for White is 7.Nc3 followed by Nd5, which is also dangerous for Black. Theoretically, though, it is not clear if White can get full compensation for two pawns against all of Black's defences, regardless of which 7th move White chooses.

Games and analysis

I have gone into a fair amount of detail on these lines, since the lines where Black refrains from 5...cxb2 often arise from the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4) and White has a choice of approaches in the 5...cxb2 6.Bxb2 lines following 6...Bb4+ and 6...d6, so it is worth covering each of the main ones.The coverage runs as follows:

Black doesn't take on b21. 5...Bb4, met by 6.bxc3. For 6.Nxc3, see the line 5.Nxc3 Bb4 6.Bc4.2. 5...Bb4, met by 6.0-0, persisting in offering the b2-pawn3. 5...Bc5 6.Bxf7+. For 6.Nxc3, see the line 5.Nxc3 Bc5 6.Bc4.4. 5...Be7 6.Qd5. For 6.Nxc3, see the line 5.Nxc3 Be7 6.Bc4.5. 5...Nf6 6.Nxc3 Bb4. This is quite an important line, which turns out well for White after the strong 7.e5.

Black takes on b26. 6...Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nf6 followed by Qc2 and 0-0-0 for White. Also some discussion of minor alternatives.7. 6...Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nf6 followed by 0-0 and Nd5 for White.8. 6...d6 7.Nc39. 6...d6 7.0-010. 6...d6 7.Qb3. I think all three moves are worth a try, though the last two will often transpose if Black plays 7...Be6.